Isaiah 10:18

Literal Standard Version

And the glory of his forest, and his fruitful field, || He consumes from soul even to flesh, || And it has been as the fainting of a standard-bearer.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He will completely destroythe glory of its forests and orchardsas a sickness consumes a person.

Hebrew Names Version
He will consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and it shall be as when a standard-bearer faints.

King James Version
And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth.

English Standard Version
The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land the Lord will destroy, both soul and body, and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.

New American Standard Bible
And He will destroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, both soul and body, And it will be as when a sick person wastes away.

New Century Version
The fire burns away the great trees and rich farmlands, destroying everything. It will be like a sick person who wastes away.

Amplified Bible
The Lord will consume the glory of Assyria's forest and of its fruitful garden, both soul and body, And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.

World English Bible
He will consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and it shall be as when a standard-bearer faints.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitfull fieldes both soule and flesh: and he shalbe as ye fainting of a standard bearer.

Legacy Standard Bible
And He will bring to an end the glory of his forest and of his fruitful orchard, both soul and body,And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.

Berean Standard Bible
The splendor of its forests and orchards, both soul and body, it will completely destroy, as a sickness consumes a man.

Contemporary English Version
The Lord will make your beautiful forests and fertile fields slowly rot.

Complete Jewish Bible
The glory of his forest and of his fertile land he will consume body and soul, like an invalid wasting away.

Darby Translation
and it shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body; and they shall be as when a sick man fainteth.

Easy-to-Read Version
and then spreads to burn up the tall trees and vineyards. Finally, everything will be destroyed—even the people. Assyria will be like a rotting log.

George Lamsa Translation
And it shall consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful fields, both soul and body shall perish; and they shall be as if they never had been.

Good News Translation
The rich forests and farmlands will be totally destroyed, in the same way that a fatal sickness destroys someone.

Lexham English Bible
And he will destroy the glory of his forest and orchard completely, and it will be like the wasting away of one who is sick.

Literal Translation
And He shall consume the glory of his forest and his fruitful field, even from soul to flesh; and it shall be as a sick man melts away.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
yee all the glory of his woddes and feldes shalbe consumed with body and soule. As for him self, he shalbe as one chased awaye.

American Standard Version
And he will consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and it shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth.

Bible in Basic English
And he will put an end to the glory of his woods and of his planted fields, soul and body together; and it will be as when a man is wasted by disease.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, he will consume both soul and body; and it shall be as when a sick man wasteth away.

King James Version (1611)
And shall consume the glory of his forrest, and of his fruitfull field both soule and body: and they shall bee as when a standerd bearer fainteth.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Yea all the glory of his wooddes and fieldes shalbe consumed with body and soule, and they shalbe as an hoast of men, whose standard bearer fayleth.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
In that day the mountains shall be consumed, and the hills, and the forests, and fire shall devour both soul and body: and he that flees shall be as one fleeing from burning flame.

English Revised Version
And he shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and it shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the glorie of his forest and of his Carmele schal be wastid, fro the soule `til to fleisch; and he schal be fleynge awei for drede.

Update Bible Version
And he will consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and it shall be as when a standard-bearer faints.

Webster's Bible Translation
And shall consume the glory of his forest, and of his fruitful field, both soul and body: and they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth.

New English Translation
The splendor of his forest and his orchard will be completely destroyed, as when a sick man's life ebbs away.

New King James Version
And it will consume the glory of his forest and of his fruitful field, Both soul and body; And they will be as when a sick man wastes away.

New Living Translation
The Lord will consume Assyria's glory like a fire consumes a forest in a fruitful land; it will waste away like sick people in a plague.

New Life Bible
The Lord will destroy the greatness of the trees and the fields that give much fruit, both soul and body. It will be as when a sick man wastes away.

New Revised Standard
The glory of his forest and his fruitful land the Lord will destroy, both soul and body, and it will be as when an invalid wastes away.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And the glory of his forest and of his garden land, both soul and body, shall it bring to an end, - And it shall be like the wasting away of a consumptive.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the glory of his forest, and of his beautiful hill, shall be consumed from the soul even to the flesh, and he shall run away through fear.

Revised Standard Version
The glory of his forest and of his fruitful land the LORD will destroy, both soul and body, and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.

Young's Literal Translation
And the honour of his forest, and his fruitful field, From soul even unto flesh He doth consume, And it hath been as the fainting of a standard-bearer.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
And He will destroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, both soul and body, And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.

Contextual Overview

⁵"Woe [to] Asshur, a rod of My anger, || And My indignation [is] a staff in their hand. ⁶I send him against a profane nation, || And concerning a people of My wrath || I charge him, || To spoil spoil, and to seize prey, || And to make it a treading-place as the clay of out places. ⁷And he does not think [it] so, || And his heart does not reckon [it] so, || For—to destroy [is] in his heart, || And to cut off nations—not a few. ⁸For he says, Are my princes not altogether kings? ⁹Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus? ¹⁰As my hand has gotten to the kingdoms of a worthless thing, and their carved images, || [Greater] than Jerusalem and than Samaria, ¹¹Do I not—as I have done to Samaria, || And to her worthless things, || So do to Jerusalem and to her grievous things?" ¹²And it has come to pass, || When the Lord fulfills all His work || In Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, || I see concerning the fruit of the greatness || Of the heart of the king of Asshur, || And concerning the glory of the height of his eyes. ¹³For he has said, "I have worked by the power of my hand, || And by my wisdom, for I have been intelligent, || And I remove borders of the peoples, || And I have spoiled their chief ones, || And I put down the inhabitants as a mighty one, ¹⁴And my hand gets to the wealth of the peoples as to a nest, || And as a gathering of forsaken eggs || I have gathered all the earth, || And there has not been one moving wing, || Or opening mouth, or whispering."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

consume: Isaiah 10:33, Isaiah 10:34, Isaiah 9:18, 2 Kings 19:23, 2 Kings 19:28, Jeremiah 21:14, Ezekiel 20:47, Ezekiel 20:48

both soul and body: Heb. from the soul and even to the flesh

Reciprocal: Nehemiah 6:11 - Should such Psalms 29:9 - discovereth Song of Solomon 5:10 - the chiefest Isaiah 21:17 - the mighty Isaiah 37:24 - General Jeremiah 46:23 - cut Revelation 8:7 - the third

Cross-References

Genesis 10:16
and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite,

Genesis 10:17
and the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,

Numbers 34:8
from Mount Hor you mark out to go to Hamath, and the outgoings of the border have been to Zedad;

Joshua 18:22
and Beth-Arabah, Zemaraim, and Beth-El,

2 Samuel 8:9
And Toi king of Hamath hears that David has struck all the force of Hadadezer,

2 Kings 17:24
And the king of Asshur brings in [people] from Babylon and from Cutha, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and Sepharvaim, and causes [them] to dwell in the cities of Samaria instead of the sons of Israel, and they possess Samaria, and dwell in its cities;

2 Kings 17:30
And the men of Babylon have made Succoth-Benoth, and the men of Cuth have made Nergal, and the men of Hamath have made Ashima,

2 Chronicles 13:4
And Abijah rises up on the hill of Zemaraim that [is] in the hill-country of Ephraim, and says, "Hear me, Jeroboam and all Israel!

Isaiah 10:9
Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not Samaria as Damascus?

Ezekiel 27:8
Inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad have been rowers for you, || Your wise men, O Tyre, have been in you, || They [are] your pilots.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And shall consume the glory of his forest,.... The Assyrian army is compared to a "forest", for the number of men in it; and for the mighty men in it, comparable to large and tall trees, such as oaks and cedars; and like a wood or forest a numerous army looks, when in rank and file, in proper order, and with banners, and having on their armour, their shields, spears, bows and arrows; and the "glory" of it intends either the princes and nobles that were in it, the principal officers, generals, and captains; or the riches of it, the plunder of the Egyptians and Ethiopians, as Kimchi observes, which were all destroyed at once:

both soul and body, or "from the soul even to the flesh" o; which denotes the total consumption of them, nothing of them remaining; the Targum is,

"the glory of the multitude of his army, and their souls with their bodies, it shall consume;''

and so some understand this of the eternal destruction of soul and body in hell: the Rabbins are divided about the manner of the consumption of the Assyrian army; some say their bodies and souls were both burnt, which these words seem to favour; and others, that their souls were burnt, and not their bodies, their lives were taken away, and their bodies unhurt; which they think is favoured by Isaiah 10:16 where it is said, "under his glory", and not "his glory" p:

and they shall be as when a standardbearer fainteth; who when he fails, the whole company or army is thrown into confusion, and flees; and so the Targum,

"and he shall be broken, and flee.''

Some render it, "as the dust of the worm that eats wood" q; so Jarchi; signifying that they should be utterly destroyed, and become as small as the dust that falls from a worm eaten tree; which simile is used, a forest being made mention of before.

o מנפש ועד בשר "ab anima usque ad carnem", V. L. Montanus, Piscator. p T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 113. 2. & Sanhedrin, fol 94. 1, 2. See Kimchi in loc. q כמסוס נסס "at pulvis teredinis", Tigurine version.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The glory of his forest - In these expressions, the army of Sennacherib is compared with a beautiful grove thick set with trees; and as all the beauty of a grove which the fire overruns is destroyed, so, says the prophet, it will be with the army of the Assyrian under the judgments of God. If the ‘briers and thorns’ Isaiah 10:17 refer to the common soldiers of his army, then the glory of the forest - the tall, majestic trees - refer to the princes and nobles. But this mode of interpretation should not be pressed too far.

And of his fruitful field - וכרמלו v^ekar^emilô. The word used here - “carmel” - is applied commonly to a rich mountain or promontory on the Mediterranean, on the southern boundary of the tribe of Asher. The word, however, properly means a fruitful field, a finely cultivated country, and Was given to Mount Carmel on this account, In this place it has no reference to that mountain, but is given to the army of Sennacherib to “keep up the figure” which the prophet commenced in Isaiah 10:17. That army, numerous, mighty, and well disciplined, was compared to an extensive region of hill and vale; of forests and fruitful fields; but it should all be destroyed as when the fire runs over fields and forests, and consumes all their beauty. Perhaps in all this, there may be allusion to the proud boast of Sennacherib 2 Kings 19:23, that he would ‘go up the sides of Lebanon, and cut down the cedars thereof, and the choice fir-trees thereof’, and enter into the forest of Carmel.’ In allusion, possibly, to this, the prophet says that God would cut down the tall trees and desolate the fruitful field - the ‘carmel’ of his army, and would lay all waste.

Both soul and body - Hebrew, ‘From the soul to the flesh;’ that is, entirely. As the soul and the flesh, or body, compose the entire man, so the phrase denotes the entireness or totality of anything. The army would be totally ruined.

And they shall be as when a standard-bearer fainteth - There is here a great variety of interpretation. The Septuagint reads it: ‘And he shall flee as one that flees from a burning flame.’ This reading Lowth has followed; but for this there is not the slightest authority in the Hebrew. The Vulgate reads it, ‘And he shall fly for terror, “et crit terrore profugus.” The Chaldee, ‘And he shall be broken, and shall fly.’ The Syriac, ‘And he shall be as if he had never been.’ Probably the correct idea is, “and they shall be as when a sick man wastes away.” The words which are used (נסס כמסס kı̂m^esos nosēs) are brought together for the sake of a paranomasia - a figure of speech common in the Hebrew. The word rendered in our version “fainteth” (מסס m^esos) is probably the infinitive construct of the verb מסס mâsas, “to melt, dissolve, faint.” It is applied to the manna that was dissolved by the heat of the sun, Exodus 16:21; to wax melted by the fire, Psalms 68:2; to a snail that consumes away, Psalms 58:8; or to water that evaporates, Psalms 58:7.

Hence, it is applied to the heart, exhausted of its vigor and spirit, Job 7:5; to things decayed that have lost their strength, 1 Samuel 15:9; to a loan or tax laid upon a people that wastes and exhausts their wealth. It has the general notion, therefore, of melting, fainting, sinking away with the loss of strength; Psalms 22:14; Psalms 112:10; Psalms 97:5; Isaiah 19:1; Isaiah 13:7; Joshua 2:11; Joshua 5:1; Joshua 7:5. The word rendered “standard-bearer” (נסס nosēs) is from the verb נסס nāsas. This word signifies sometimes “to lift up,” to elevate, or to erect a flag or standard to public view, to call men to arms; Isaiah 5:26; Isaiah 11:10, Isaiah 11:12; Isaiah 13:2; Isaiah 18:3; Isaiah 49:22; and also to lift up, or to exhibit anything as a judgment or public warning, and may thus be applied to divine judgments. Gesenius renders the verb, “to waste away, to be sick.” In Syriac it has this signification. Taylor (“Heb. Con.”) says, that it does not appear that this word ever has the signification of a military standard under which armies fight, but refers to a standard or ensign to “call” men together, or to indicate alarm and danger. The probable signification here, is that which refers it to a man wasting away with sickness, whose strength and vigor are gone, and who becomes weak and helpless. Thus applied to the Assyrian army, it is very striking. Though mighty, confident, and vigorous-like a man in full health - yet it would be like a vigorous man when disease comes upon him, and he pines away and sinks to the grave.